David Schneider

Biography

David R. Schneider graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Chemical Engineering in 1999, attended Columbia University Film M.F.A. Program in 2001, and earned his Masters and PhD from Cornell University in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Controls & Dynamics in 2007. David has taught at both Cornell and Columbia University. His most prominent research is his creation of the G*TA (G-Star-T-A) task allocation algorithm and his work as Program Manager of the Cornell RoboFlag program, with notable applications including AFRL UAV controls and NASA/NOAA unmanned boat designs. With a strong focus on education, David's endeavors have included the creation of the Intel-Cornell Cup, Innovative Embedded Design National Competition; leading Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD); and the broader impacts video game creation for the NSF Expeditions in Computing Grant on Computational Sustainability. David has led the efforts to make Cornell the first university to officially partner with Make: and is a leader in the Higher Education Maker Alliance working with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has also led with Make: the re-creation of the national entrepreneurial competition "Pitch Your Prototype" and is a leading faculty member behind the American Society of Engineering Education, Community Engaged Division Film Festival national competition. David was also a screenwriter for Walt Disney Attractions Television Production.

Research Interests

David Schneider's research has traditionally focused on the realm of NP-Hard Computer Science Problems and Controls for Robotic Systems in both centralized & decentralized and autonomous & semi-autonomous systems. He seeks ways to apply this research towards sustainability through programs like the NSF Expeditions in Computing Grant on Computational Sustainability, Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD), and the Advancements in Systems Engineering project which seeks to use Systems Engineering approaches to develop and prove the value of new government policies surrounding sustainability... David is also dedicated to STEM and particularly engineering education with publications in journals such as the International Journal of Engineering Education - Active Learning Special Edition. His latest research in this area is to develop means of teaching core Systems Engineering methodology to students of all college disciplines, and even to high school students in ways that also aid teachers in empowering ways of meeting the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core requirements.

Teaching Interests

David Schneider has dedicated much of his career towards the improvement of engineering education. In addition to mentoring typically over 200 students every semester on many of the projects listed above, David has taught courses such as Model Based Systems Engineering, Engineering Project Leadership, and Creativity in Engineering. Through the Intel-Cornell Cup, David has also developed in conjunction with the Cornell team's students, a series of systems engineering professional design guides that target identified nationwide curriculum gaps. To aid in this instruction, David has led the development of the ModBot modular robotic system which has represented solution techniques to these issues through imaginative robotic examples that have varied from autonomous omni-directional rovers, to humanoid robots that can play RockBand the video game with 98% accuracy on expert, to droids inspired by R2-D2 and C-3PO, to even a model Disney-styled themepark ride. As a member of the Cornell Faculty Institute for Diversity, David also leads the largest and most diverse student team on campus, Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD). He also co-founded the NASA Robotics Alliance Cadets program with Mark Leon, NASA AMES Director of Education and David Lavery, NASA Program Executive of Planetary and Solar Exploration.

Service Interests

David Schneider has a passion also for STEM education outreach and has working closely with programs including the Chicago High Jump Program, Kopernick Observatory, Cornell Learning Web, Brooklyn Children's Museum, the NASA Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), the Walt Disney World Team U.S. First Robotics Competition Team, National Science Foundation "Project Links" Program, Tau Beta Pi, the Creation of the Advanced Save Our Streams (SOS) Program with the Isaac Walton League, numerous Maker Faire and Making endeavors, the Utica D.E.C. & New Hartford High School, and the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership program which David himself was an active member of. Many of David's research projects also have a strong outreach component such as the NSF Expeditions in Computing Grant on Computational Sustainability Video Games.